The Photo-Drama of Citation Needed

The Photo-Drama of Creation was produced under the direction of Charles Taze Russell of the early Bible Students, and was first shown in 1914. I was able to see a scaled-down reproduction of it in the 1980s. One thing that struck me were some curious claims I had never heard before, one of them being the significance of the Ancient Egyptian Abydos Tablet supporting Genesis—down to representing Adam as the first pharaoh. I found that very bewildering.

Only later, when being able to see the accompanying booklet, the Scenario of the Photo-Drama of Creation, was I able to review that claim and perform fact-checking. First, the claims about the Abydos Tablet appear to be unique to the Photo-Drama of Creation (PDC) and were never repeated. It turns out there is a good reason why.

Here is what PDC had to say, with underlining added (page 20):

Egyptologists have been astonished by their findings in the tombs of the Pharaohs. In some of these, historic tablets have been found, tracing the ancestry of the Pharaohs apparently back to Creation—the first Pharaoh—Adam. But these tablets show so many more generations than the Bible record that Egyptologists lose all faith in the Genesis account. They become Higher Critics, discount the Bible record and pin their faith to the Egyptian tablets. They confess, however, that these tablets vary, and more or less contradict each other. Concededly, the most accurate is THE ABYDOS TABLET, found in the sepulchre of Seti I—probably the Pharaoh who made Joseph his Prime Minister and who is supposed to have died about 120 years before Moses was born.

The chief fault found with this Tablet is that it is not so lengthy as some of the others. Nevertheless, Pharaoh, Seti I, preserved this Tablet for us with great care. He sank a shaft sixty feet deep through solid rock. At that level his masons cut out the stone staircase on which THE ABYDOS TABLET is portrayed. An exact copy of it is to be found in the British Museum. At considerable expense and with difficulty we have secured the photograph of it, which we here present. Our object is to show that this best of Egyptian records fully corroborates the Genesis account.

This list of Pharaohs is shorter than the others because it omits the names of gods and demigods. It is the complete Egyptian record of the purely human line of rulers back to Adam. Furthermore, these omissions occur at the appropriate place—at the time of the Deluge.

“THE ABYDOS TABLET” SHOWING ADAM “MENA” AS PHARAOH I, AND EVE “ISHA” HIS WIFE

Page 21:

THE ABYDOS TABLET fully agrees with Genesis and is often corroborated by the Greek and Egyptian historians, Herodotus and Manetho. It shows Adam as the first Pharaoh, and Noah the twentieth, while the intermediate eighteen correspond with Genesis with remarkable accuracy. Mena’s wife was Shesh—Hebrew, Isha—woman. Her first son was Pharaoh II—Greek, Teta-Khent—guilty one; Hebrew, Kanighi; Latin, Athos; English, Cain. The tablet for Abel represents him as the non-resistant one.

The Abydos Tablet shows the same order as Moses (Genesis 4-6), giving first the line of Cain down to Jabal, who was Kakan. At that time, evidently, the gods and demigods began to fill the Earth with violence. Seti’s list omits the names of these. All demigods were destroyed in the Deluge. Noah is next in order with a regal title. But since he was not of Cain’s family, The Abydos Tablet there goes back, mentions Abel and Seth, and Seth’s line just as given in Genesis (untitled), down to Noah. These all, as Pharaohs, have their royal ovals, but no supertitle. After Noah (Nofru), Pharaoh XX, the line runs through his son Ham (Chamu Chufu). Appropriately Noah’s other sons are ignored; for Shem and Japheth went to Asia and Europe, while only Ham went to Egypt.

Thus wonderfully is the Bible being vindicated by the very inscriptions once supposed to contradict it.

SPHINX — SUPPOSED NEWER TOMB OF ADAM, MENA I

[End quote]

Does any of this seem suspicious? It did to me! Upon fact-checking, the following problems were revealed:

First, where it was found. PDC said it was found in a “shaft sixty feet deep through solid rock” on a “stone staircase.” It is actually portrayed in a chamber on the ground level! The room it is displayed in is called The Gallery of Ancestors, also referred to as The Gallery of the List. It is on the same level as the rest of the Temple of Seti I, which is L-shaped. Additionally, this temple does not have any staircases leading down, only up. This Gallery is a narrow chamber at the turn on the outer wall, as seen in this older drawing:

From www.ancientegyptfoundation.org

This whole temple can also be seen on Google Earth, both as an areal view and at ground level where you can enter the Gallery in 3D and view the Abydos king list. It is easily accessible.

Second, the supposed correspondences. Mena does not sound like Adam. If you are looking for similar-sounding names, there is Atum, “the primordial God in Egyptian mythology from whom all else arose.”^[1] (There is also Adapa from Mesopotamian lore, also known in Egypt, who unknowingly refused the gift of immortality from the god Anu.^[2]) Mena is called Menes, an honorific title meaning “he who endures,” which is not a personal name, and is identified with the first historical pharaoh named Narmer.^[3] His wife may have been Neithhotep,^[4] and I cannot verify Isha.

The 2nd Pharaoh’s name was Teti, also identified as Aha. PDC’s identification is unsubstantiated. Regarding the 20th Pharaoh, that was Sneferu (“He has perfected me”) and not Nofru, which doesn’t sound like Noah anyway. Plus, Noah never built a pyramid. Sneferu’s successor was Khufu (“He protects me”).^[5]

Regarding the Sphinx being a tomb with chambers within it, this is all entirely unsubstantiated.^[6] The Sphinx was carved out of solid rock.

Despite these problems with the presentation and claims about the Abydos Tablet and the Sphinx, PDC did stimulate interest in science, the Bible, magnified Jehovah’s name and creatorship, and directed people to Jesus. Nevertheless, while the false claims about the Abydos Tablet came from a desire to defend the Bible, at the very least it was also fueled by some confusion, immaturity, and gullibility. Thus, the more sensational claims about the Abydos Tablet and the Sphinx should be laid to rest and remain buried under the sands of time. Lastly, PDC should be remembered for what it was good for, stimulating interest in science, the Bible, magnifying Jehovah’s name and creatorship, and directing people to Jesus.

We assume that all who visit “The Photo-Drama of Creation” will be convinced that the Bible tells a harmonious tale of the greatness and love of the Heavenly Father and of the Lord and Savior, Jesus. We also assume that all such will desire to be on the Lord’s side — Sons of Peace.^[7]

Footnotes:
^[1] Atum en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atum
^[2] Adapa en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adapa
^[3] Menes www.worldhistory.org/Menes/ and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menes
^[4] Neithhotep en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neithhotep
^[5] Abydos Canon king list pharaoh.se/ancient-egypt/kinglist/abydos-canon/
^[6] Great Sphinx of Giza en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Sphinx_of_Giza
^[7] Scenario page 98.

Additional reading:

• Did Russell Want Followers? jimspace3000.blogspot.com/2021/04/did-russell-want-followers.html
• A 100-Year-Old Epic of Faith jw.org/en/library/magazines/w20140215/photo-drama-of-creation

See also:

• Ancient Egypt Part 1: The Old Kingdom (3000 – 2000 BCE) youtu.be/T3w_aKCbwmg?si=vOitMzDsybN6kQbs